Round Two: The Righteous Gemstones

The Righteous Gemstones: Season 1, Episode 2 “Is This the Man Who Made the Earth Tremble” (B)

In its second outing, this episode wasn’t all that much about the religion and instead about the two different sets of people scrambling furiously to dig out of the holes they’ve dug for themselves. We got to meet the three seemingly hapless blackmailers as they all managed to survive and attempt to regroup. It wasn’t lost on Lucy that Scotty tried to throw her down a hill and get rid of her body, and no one seemed quite as invested in this operation as Scotty was. As soon as they got to the motel, I immediately recognized the uninjured blackmailer as Skyler Gisondo, a fantastic part of “Santa Clarita Diet.” This episode saved its best surprise for last, which was the reveal that he was actually Gideon, the wayward son who left the family for other opportunities. His return home is going to rattle his father, who is almost certain not to connect the dots about what he did. Scotty showing up could make him suspicious, but we’ll see how long that takes. Just as most of Danny McBride’s characters tend to, Jesse rules by arrogance and annoyance rather than ever praising any of his underlings, though this crew seems more hapless than anything and unlikely to seek vengeance on their horrible boss. The closing montage was a bit weird, with the sex and the praying and everything, not to mention the snake that Eli found in his kitchen, and I’m hoping that this show can stay somewhat grounded in its pursuit of decent, if twisted, comedy.